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Upanishads · Sarasvatīrahasya 4.18
॥
Devanāgarī
विक्षेपशक्तिर्लिङ्गादिब्रह्माण्डान्तं जगत्सृजेत् । अन्तर्दृग्दृश्ययोर्भेदं बहिश्च ब्रह्मसर्गयोः
Transliteration (IAST)
vikṣepaśaktirliṅgādibrahmāṇḍāntaṃ jagatsṛjet | antardṛgdṛśyayorbhedaṃ bahiśca brahmasargayoḥ
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
विक्षेप-शक्तिः लिङ्ग-आदि-vikṣepa-śaktiḥ liṅga-ādi-the power of scattering, from the subtle body
ब्रह्माण्ड-अन्तं जगत् सृजेत्brahmāṇḍa-antaṃ jagat sṛjetto the cosmic egg, creates the world
अन्तः दृक्-दृश्ययोः भेदंantaḥ dṛk-dṛśyayoḥ bhedaṃwithin — the difference of the seer and the seen
बहिः च ब्रह्म-सर्गयोःbahiḥ ca brahma-sargayoḥand outside — of brahman and creation
Translation
The power of scattering creates the world — from the subtle body to the cosmic egg; [the power of covering conceals] within the difference of the seer and the seen, and outside that of brahman and creation.
Version
3dc5e64fdc56 · published Aug 12, 2026, 5:00:00 AM UTC
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It is worth noting that the power of covering is called covering two differences, not one. Within, it covers the difference between dṛk and dṛśya, "the seer and the seen": a person does not distinguish himself from what he sees, and so says "I am fat," "I am ill." Outside, it covers the difference between brahman and sarga, "brahman and creation": a person does not distinguish the world from its foundation, and so takes the world for independent.
This construction, to my mind, is excellent, and the Vaiṣṇava side does not object to it at all. She holds both differences, and holds them more firmly than this school: for her, the seer and the seen are different forever, and brahman and creation are different forever. The objection begins only when it is said that, upon the removal of the veil, the differences disappear.
Her position is the reverse: upon the removal of the veil, the differences become visible. That is, by her reckoning, the veil hides not unity but precisely difference: a person who does not distinguish himself from the body is covered; one who has distinguished is uncovered. And this, to my mind, agrees better with the very description: it is said, after all, that the power of covering covers a difference; and what is covered, once uncovered, becomes evident, not vanishes.